(This article was originally published on insights-czawolf.com on Feb 21 2022)

It's been several months since I minted my first ever Solana (SOL) NFT, and it's been a wild ride. 🚀🌕

The knowledge I've learned and accumulated so far have been priceless. As I continue to navigate this space with a different approach focused more on crypto/NFT education and community building, the more topics intrigue me that go beyond just degen flipping and trading.

Most of these topics aren't necessarily considered alpha because they don't relate to the next 10x mint and aren't subjects being explored enough in most alpha channels. But I do believe they're important for the future of the NFT space.
One of the topics I want to explore is the differences in the way 100+ SOL floor priced projects managed their affairs to become such high-valued and revered projects, compared to the hundreds of others listed on Magic Eden (ME) that are struggling to reach above 1 SOL, let alone get to 100.
NB: I'm not a holder of any of these NFTs and was only limited to information shared in Discord announcements, general chat and Twitter posts. This may have limited my research and might affect the accuracy of my analysis.
Here's some of my findings, summarised:

Mindfolk ➡️ 777 supply 💰 Mint price: 1 SOL

Going for a less traditional pixelated pfp artwork, Mindfolk (MF) introduced a different style of art in the Solana space. For a project that minted in what seemed like the middle of the night on New Year’s Eve, it went incredibly well considering the timing (most people were probably afk). Within 24 hours, MF had a 8.49 floor price and listed #6 in the Top 10 Solana NFT Collections by Daily Volume. An incredible feat.
Looking at the activities in their announcement channel, I believe one of the things that set them apart immediately (even now), is the team’s ability to update and make announcements almost daily. 👀 This shows they’re committed to communicating and engaging their holders as frequently as possible, which is imperative for a space moving 24/7 with notoriously impatient investors. When Solana was down during these times, they also reassured their members; a practice often neglected but is important in a volatile market. By doing this, they kept their investors interested every day and showed they genuinely care beyond superficial engagement.

Five days after mint, they created an incentive for holders to delist with the release of their $WOOD token. As demand grew and more members delisted, this created a supply shock leading to a boost in floor price, pushing momentum for other smart strategies implemented by the team. This became more obvious when they started 1/1 auctions with the first selling for 141 SOL. Each auction after that began to sell for even more. 🤑

I also observed there were holders with 5-12 MFs in their wallets and most paperhands left at around the 5 SOL floor price. Mindfolk passed 4K volume within 2 days after mint and had less than 30 NFTs listed a week in, which is astonishing for a 777 supply project. After 2 weeks of the mint date, they had a 100 SOL floor price through organic growth. This is why I always vouch for authentic community building because the inflated hype not only hurts long-term, but almost immediately.

Once staking was introduced around the first week of January, 709 MFs out of 777 were staked. 😵 This truly shows the conviction of their community. A month later and their floor price was at 200 SOL and only 4 MFs were listed! 💎👐🏽

These are the things I believe contributed to them being a 100+ SOL project:

• Community and Discord management is great and consistent

• 1/1 Auctions drove further exclusivity beyond the small supply

• Strong tokenomics structure and having someone on their team specifically for the role of tokenomics was a chess move

• The incentives for utility is engaging and still has great art at its centre

• They expanded their concepts beyond just pfp and introduced the Cabins Collection

• The artwork is unique compared to typical pixelated, animal-based pfps

Here is one Mindfolk holder’s opinion that echoes my analysis:

The Chimpions ➡️ 222 supply 💰 Mint price: 0.22

As someone super tired of anything chimp, ape, and monkey related in NFTs, this was a very interesting project for me. By the end of my research, I was in the Chimpions’ Discord congratulating everyone involved because I was so impressed with what I found. 😂

A supply of 222 would usually be a red flag for me when it comes to potential rugs. It just seemed too low. However, I found out they’re all non-generative which means time was spent on every one of them. Then, I learned their royalties were set to 12.5% which is considerably higher than most projects averaging at around 7%. This would also typically be a red flag. But it ultimately made sense in exchange for a lower mint price, thus lowering the barrier-entry considerably. At 0.22, anyone could’ve tapped in (anyone but me…#regrets 😢💔).

From observing their announcements channel, it showed the server started in January but their Twitter was created September 2021. I assume the team was building their community/followings before they opened the Discord. Their slow and organic build translated towards the time they spent on Whitelisting people as well (which was about a month). They eventually minted at the end of January with the NFTs revealing in batches.

I have never seen a team take such a strong stance against the usual, tolerated practices in the space. In my opinion, this was one of the determining factors that brought this project such great returns while putting them in a unique position within the Solana ecosystem.

For example, they provided different insights and thoughts regarding floor prices and community building; some of which mentioned that “sweeping the floor guarantee[s] exit liquidity” and “projects resort to all manner of predatory products”. They set up potential investors early and clearly with what they wanted to offer. By making the effort to let people know they’re different from other projects, they were able to position themselves as forward-thinkers. Using Twitter to publicly address these points also adds in their commitment to be externally accountable.

They haven’t disappointed. After their Launchpad on ME, they involved the community with decision-making straightaway, starting with the delayed mint reveal decided by the DAO. The team is very transparent with the community, and have even praised members for their "extraordinary" contributions. This is significant, as it builds rapport between the team and members in such a positive way. There’s nothing worse than being an active, valuable, and loyal member and the team not acknowledging your contribution. So many project leaders are so comfortable ignoring the simplest key that opens long-term value: appreciation. 📌

The team always made a point to uplift 1/1 NFT artists in the space by collaborating with them. By allowing some of these undervalued artists’ artwork to be included in the collection meant Chimpions became champions for talented creatives. Such authentic building allowed the continuous success that followed thereafter, one of which includes the auction that received a bid for 36 SOL within 12 hours, but ended up selling for 270 SOL!

As far as utility, besides the project’s aim to provide exclusivity and interoperability, there’s one concept that really got me bullish on this project: the hardcover book for ‘The Compendium of Chimpions’, connected to their lore. 📘 The combination of using NFTs and lore to create a tangible book for holders is something I’ve suggested to other projects before, but none seemed willing or committed to execute. It would be incredible to see this unfold for the Chimpions community and see what the impact would be.

These are the things I believe contributed to them being a 100+ SOL project:

• 100% Whitelist means there was no room for other public/non-WL to enter the project to paperhand or FUD, helping floor price setting massively

• As a low supply of 222 supply, it makes it easier for demand to be high

• Chimpions has some of the most intelligent communicators I’ve seen on a project team and this shows through their Twitter and Discord management

• Consistent engagement between the community and team (I’m talking damn near everyday there’s an announcement! 🔥)

• 1/1 Auctions drove further exclusivity beyond the small supply and including 1/1 artists created a loyalty system that makes Chimpions a long-term investment and contributed to large confidence in the project

• Only a couple of months young and has room for further proof of concepts

• Just by the value they provide on Twitter alone, I have no doubt their holders chat exchanges great information often Genuine appreciation to the team

  Here is one Chimpion holder’s opinion that approves my analysis:

Solana Monkey Business ➡️ 5000 supply 💰 Mint price: 2 SOL

Solana Monkey Business (SMB) has been very popular recently due to the concerns between the SMB founders and the MonkeDAO. This made the research process into SMB a lot harder, especially considering I’m not a holder thus have no access to the MonkeDAO server. At the end of my research, I only had ¾ of an A4 page to go on. But it was enough for me to understand why they're worth so much.

SMB consists of 2 collections: Gen 1 and Gen 2 (the generative collection now used as pfps by many). This research mostly follows Gen 2 and how it essentially became “the CryptoPunks of Solana”.

From their Discord announcements, SMB minted on August 2021, months after the team showed their roadmap around June. Not only did they mint exactly on the day they mentioned, but they also sold out in 4 hours! 🤯 Although the mint had its own issues with website overload, the team’s competence really showed as they endeavoured to fix the problems quickly.

The first phase of the roadmap showed the release of a fee-less marketplace in partnership with Metaplex, which from my understanding helped the hype for SMB from the start. Metaplex original devs were/are advising SMB and in return some, if not all of them, are now SMB holders too. This drives a lot of collateral reputation to the project since some holders are very well known in the space for being valuable. Gen 1 holders were also supposedly paid royalties, which I believe was the first ever implementation of an incentivised structure, thus creating a unique lure for people to mint Gen 2s and hold their Gen 1s.

I also think SMB being in the ‘Summer of SOL’ event in San Francisco may have potentially played a role in them getting eyes on the project by some of Solana’s top devs, designers, validators, investors, ecosystem parameters, and community members.

But one of the main factors that I believe drove SMB’s popularity was when Sam Bankman-Fried followed them on Twitter, and Steve Harvey set his pfp as an SMB. That type of co-signing definitely helps and shows up as a testament to what the project is building. (I don't believe these were paid either).

• Not even a month after the mint date, they acquired a Sandbox 24x24 estate. Due to my limited research, it’s unclear whether this Sandbox is being aggressively utilised. But as an investor, if a project shilled a metaverse play after a couple of weeks of minting, it’s not hard to believe the floor price rose at that time. A key factor that benefits the value of a project is the team’s ability to collab intentionally, meaningfully, and with longevity in mind.

  This certainly proved right when an SMB sold for 118 SOL on August 27th, and 2 days later another sale was confirmed at 999 SOL! Wtfffffff 🤯 During this time, chat mentioned the floor price jumping from 50 to 75. But one of the most insane things I’ve noticed was that there was almost zero floor talk...but people were still listing above 200 SOL on Magic Eden.

  Before this research it wasn’t clear what the utility of an SMB was and why exactly it’s priced at such a high entry. Although I’ve accumulated limited knowledge on how this came to be, it’s obvious that the community having some of the most revered individuals in the space, and using this strong network for money-making alpha, has contributed to their success. But from my own conclusions, I do believe the DAO has been the primary value driver for SMB. Florida Man can explain it a lot better than me.

These are the things I believe contributed to them being a 100+ SOL project:

• No delays in minting, no excuses in the issues that arose during mint

• The team kept to their timeline very strictly and fixed problems almost immediately This shows a team that’s attentive and has urgency towards their priorities

• Being one of the more OG SOL projects, it has built a reputation for provenance Shared alpha amongst the community is something holders refer back to often MonkeDAO’s management and engagement with the community

• Followed by SBF and shilled by Steve Harvey Exclusivity and scarcity (now that it’s so expensive for the average investor to join) has definitely contributed too

Here is one SMB holder’s opinion that backs my analysis:

Boryoku Dragonz ➡️ 1,111 supply 💰 Mint price: 1.11 SOL

Admittingly, I wasn’t too excited to learn more about this project because although I saw some Dragonz pfp on my TL and in Discord, I've never seen a thread or a tweet describing what’s so great about this project…and then I did my DYOR. 😍

Out of the other 3 projects, I had the most notes on Boryoku (1 ½ pages). As a stealth project that only opened their Discord on the day of mint, selling out in less than 3 minutes was either a sign of great success ahead, or it was just going to be another pump and dump. But currently sitting at 365 SOL on ME, it's safe to say it superseded my assumptions!

There are a few reasons why I believe this project has held its floor price so well, but one of them is the fact FTX supported them (2 days after mint). With FTX being one of the largest digital currency exchanges in the world, being recognised by them via a tweet is definitely something that must’ve helped with their valuation. Sam Bankman-Fried is potentially bullish on Boryoku Dragonz? LIT. 😂🔥

But the credit is mostly down to the Dragonz team. Between the announcements channel and chat, what stood out the most was their ability to quickly distribute their $BOKU token. Holders were encouraged to delist their NFTs very early on, and it should be noted around this time, there was an average of 2.5 Dragonz per holder. So if every holder delisted at least 1 Dragonz from secondary markets, the supply available to the public would’ve halved almost instantly. This is probably why they caught up with SMB at #2 on Top 10 Solana NFT Collections by Daily Volume less than a week post-mint, and at one point, even passing SMB on the charts. 👀

Boryoku’s team didn’t stop there. Announcing their tokenomics would be used for breeding babies, they introduced their second collection as Baby Dragonz through daily teasers. This is a great way to achieve controlled hype amongst members, as it keeps them engaged everyday and they have something to look forward to that’s not only new, but also adds value to their investment every time.

The 1/1 auctions for the 10 Legendary Dragonz was also really smart. As if their aim for exclusivity wasn’t enough in the form of incentivised delistings, tokenomics, and breeding, they also introduced 1/1 NFTs that integrated their lore incredibly well. By doing so, the team was able to create these assets integral to their storytelling/background story.

The lowest Legendary Dragonz sold was at 275 SOL and the highest was the final Dragonz at 1111 SOL (...what a minute…1,111 supply + 1.11 mint price…is this a coincidence?! 🤔). During these auctions, Holaplex even put them on their front page unprompted. This helps with exposure, and definitely builds long-term credibility as usually, projects only show on the front page of ME based on sales volume/popularity and whether or not it’s a new collection. But being on the front page of another NFT marketplace based on art and the team’s work alone is pretty dope!

From my research, I believe what separates Boryoku from other Solana projects and even those mentioned in this article, is down to the team’s genuine connection with their community. The team demonstrates an ‘underpromise and overdeliver’ attitude. So when the project acquired land in The Sandbox to show their commitment to build beyond pfps and into the metaverse, and they released the proof of concept less than 2 weeks later, I was so impressed. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Even more so when I saw them do something special for a community member to “uplift and empower individuals who are deserving”. This is incredible, considering there are founders who simply assign “Special Roles” for active, loyal members and call it a day. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Instead, Boryoku made an entire announcement to publicly thank this member. Such a gesture clearly translated well with the whole community as holders reciprocated kind gestures to rally and create a greeting card for the team when they were busy building. Never seen that before!

Besides the yield capabilities of holding 2 Dragonz, the value of $BOKU against USD (Coingecko), the ability to breed an egg every 21 days, and merch, this project’s growth looks very sustainable. They didn’t reach a 100+ floor price overnight; it took them 3 months of building to reach 500 SOL on ME and a volume of 100,000 SOL. Boryoku Dragonz is a testament of what it means to manage the expectations of a community intentionally and having a coherent plan to execute.

Here are some things that I believe contributed to them being a 100+ SOL project:

• Engaging and mystical lore integrated in their entire ecosystem that was released very calculatively

• Their artwork is unique and takes pixel art to the next level and offered something different besides just the usual animals Solana sees in the market

• Strong tokenomics and fast implementation of $BOKU meant holders had new things to engage with weekly Received co-sign from FTX

• Successfully executed the breeding incentives with their token that raised the value of holding Dragonz higher The 1/1 auctions made them notoriously known for having some of the largest auction sales on Holaplex (and maybe Solana!)

Here is one Dragonz holder’s opinion that supports my analysis:

Overall, I would say that this intensive research concludes that a successful NFT project combines a mixture of all the successful factors I’ve listed above per project. But the majority of it is down to the team’s ability to manage, engage, and keep their community loyal, which in return means the members extend that to the project and show up in the form of high-valued NFTs. After learning what I know now, I find myself comparing what these projects have done to the projects I’m currently a part of…and I can’t help but notice the things that these below-mint-priced NFTs aren’t doing. 😬

To end this productively, here are 10 things to consider and question when looking at the projects you’re invested in, or the projects you’re working on:

1️⃣ Is general chat only talking about floor price, paperhands, and FUD?

2️⃣ How frequently are announcements made by the team? Is it consistent? Are they engaging and initiating conversations in chats? Or are the founders completely silent and “busy because of their 9-5”?

3️⃣ Are there additions being added to their utility, roadmap, vision…or are they just trying to make something work that’s clearly not working?

4️⃣ Did the team airdrop some supplies during mint or after for no other reason but just to wipe some numbers off, or inflate some numbers on the board?

5️⃣ Do the tokenomics make sense, or are they just included to make it look like the project is worth investing in?

6️⃣ Is the growth organic and authentic, slow and genuine in approach? Or are they giving away SOL/WL spots every other tweet?

7️⃣ Are collaborations meaningful, does it make sense for the overall aim of the roadmap?

8️⃣ Who is the project cosigned by? Is it only “influencers” tweeting about them?

9️⃣ Are the community members being appreciated and do they really feel part of the project?

1️⃣ 0️⃣ What incentives (besides a token that’s possibly useless/has no intrinsic value except within the project’s ecosystem) are set by the team to award holders for delisting and HODLing?

I keep learning about more things NFT projects are doing that’s not helping them become valuable assets to the ecosystem. Of course, not every project is going to be worth 100 SOL. But it does mean that those worth more became so for greater reasons beyond just, “Oh, they’re a really strong community.”

More and more projects will enter this space, probably in equal amounts to newbies starting their NFT journeys. The most important thing to remember is your ‘Why?’. Why are you part of this revolution? Someone who wants to just flip and trade won’t necessarily care about the community aspect. But if you’re anything like me, who's bullish on web3, crypto, and NFTs in general…you’re going to want to see projects do well for the long-term viability and overall impact of this incredible space.

This can be a great place for devs, team members, and investors to check their lists to make sure that happens! I hope this has been insightful. +